Suspect charged in Catonsville police-involved shooting

A man who was shot by a Baltimore County police officer Wednesday and later found in a Catonsville High School parking lot has been charged and remains hospitalized.

Steven David Gary, 45, of Pikesville was shot when he attempted to drive toward the officer, police said. The officer fired at least one shot.

The department identified the officer only as Officer Boone, a 13-year veteran assigned to Precinct 1/Wilkens patrol. He has been placed under administrative duty, which is the department policy while police-involved shootings are investigated.

Baltimore County does not provide officers' first names, according to a police union agreement. But court records and media reports show that Officer Keith Boone, a 13-year-veteran from Wilkens, was recognized and honored for stopping a suspect wanted for murder and an armed carjacking in Baltimore.

Boone received the department's Silver Star award in 2011. According to an account in a Baltimore Sun Media Group article, Boone and several other officers chased the a man as he ran down Wabash Avenue in November 2009. He and other officers exchanged fire with the suspect and eventually arrested him.

Wednesday's shooting occurred about 11:35 a.m. in the 700 block of Frederick Road, when the officer noticed what was believed to be a suspicious vehicle, a white Toyota RAV4. The officer ran the tag number and found that the car had been stolen from Carroll County.

As the officer approached the RAV4, Gary attempted to drive toward him and the officer fired, police said.

Gary was later found lying on the ground in a parking lot near the high school's football field, suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body. The school was not locked down during the incident.

Gary, of the 700 block of Cloudyfold Drive, has been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, theft from $10,000 to $100,000, and reckless endangerment. He was charged at the hospital and remains under guard there. Bail of $35,000 has been set.

According to online court records, Gary faces additional charges, including fourth-degree burglary and destruction-of-property charges for a July incident, and second-degree assault charges, also from July.

The incident marks the department's fourth police-involved shooting this year. The county reported four last year, said police spokeswoman Cpl. Cathy Batton.

The department previously identified two other Wilkens Precinct officers, Officer Kovacevich, a five-year veteran, and Officer Neal, a three-year veteran, as being involved in the shooting of a naked man wielding a rifle at a Lansdowne motel last month.

Earlier this summer, a member of the county's tactical team shot and killed a man wielding a long sword when police attempted to search the home for suspects wanted for attempted murder in an assault on a teenager.

Three county officers were identified in a fatal shooting of a Halethorpe man in January. Officers from several other jurisdictions were also named in that shooting.